An audio playback and capture library in a single source file.

Features - Examples - Building - Documentation - Supported Platforms - Security - License

miniaudio is written in C with no dependencies except the standard library and should compile clean on all major compilers without the need to install any additional development packages. All major desktop and mobile platforms are supported.

Features

• Simple build system with no external dependencies.
• Simple and flexible API.
• Low-level API for direct access to raw audio data.
• High-level API for sound management, mixing, effects and optional 3D spatialization.
• Flexible node graph system for advanced mixing and effect processing.
• Resource management for loading sound files.
• Decoding, with built-in support for WAV, FLAC, and MP3, in addition to being able to plug in custom decoders.
• Encoding (WAV only).
• Data conversion.
• Resampling, including custom resamplers.
• Channel mapping.
• Basic generation of waveforms and noise.
• Basic effects and filters.

Refer to the Programming Manual for a more complete description of available features in miniaudio.

Examples

This example shows one way to play a sound using the high level API.

#include "miniaudio/miniaudio.h"

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    ma_result result;
    ma_engine engine;

    result = ma_engine_init(NULL, &engine);
    if (result != MA_SUCCESS) {
        return -1;
    }

    ma_engine_play_sound(&engine, "sound.wav", NULL);

    printf("Press Enter to quit...");
    getchar();

    ma_engine_uninit(&engine);

    return 0;
}

This example shows how to decode and play a sound using the low level API.

#include "miniaudio/miniaudio.h"

#include <stdio.h>

void data_callback(ma_device* pDevice, void* pOutput, const void* pInput, ma_uint32 frameCount)
{
    ma_decoder* pDecoder = (ma_decoder*)pDevice->pUserData;
    if (pDecoder == NULL) {
        return;
    }

    ma_decoder_read_pcm_frames(pDecoder, pOutput, frameCount, NULL);

    (void)pInput;
}

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
    ma_result result;
    ma_decoder decoder;
    ma_device_config deviceConfig;
    ma_device device;

    if (argc < 2) {
        printf("No input file.\n");
        return -1;
    }

    result = ma_decoder_init_file(argv[1], NULL, &decoder);
    if (result != MA_SUCCESS) {
        return -2;
    }

    deviceConfig = ma_device_config_init(ma_device_type_playback);
    deviceConfig.playback.format   = decoder.outputFormat;
    deviceConfig.playback.channels = decoder.outputChannels;
    deviceConfig.sampleRate        = decoder.outputSampleRate;
    deviceConfig.dataCallback      = data_callback;
    deviceConfig.pUserData         = &decoder;

    if (ma_device_init(NULL, &deviceConfig, &device) != MA_SUCCESS) {
        printf("Failed to open playback device.\n");
        ma_decoder_uninit(&decoder);
        return -3;
    }

    if (ma_device_start(&device) != MA_SUCCESS) {
        printf("Failed to start playback device.\n");
        ma_device_uninit(&device);
        ma_decoder_uninit(&decoder);
        return -4;
    }

    printf("Press Enter to quit...");
    getchar();

    ma_device_uninit(&device);
    ma_decoder_uninit(&decoder);

    return 0;
}

More examples can be found in the examples folder or online here: https://miniaud.io/docs/examples/

Building

Just compile miniaudio.c like any other source file and include miniaudio.h like a normal header. There's no need to install any dependencies. On Windows and macOS there's no need to link to anything. On Linux and BSD just link to -lpthread and -lm. On iOS you need to compile as Objective-C. Link to -ldl if you get errors about dlopen(), etc.

If you get errors about undefined references to __sync_val_compare_and_swap_8, __atomic_load_8, etc. you need to link with -latomic.

ABI compatibility is not guaranteed between versions so take care if compiling as a DLL/SO. The suggested way to integrate miniaudio is by adding it directly to your source tree.

You can also use CMake if that's your preference.

Documentation

Online documentation can be found here: https://miniaud.io/docs/

Documentation can also be found at the top of miniaudio.h which is always the most up-to-date and authoritative source of information on how to use miniaudio. All other documentation is generated from this in-code documentation.

Supported Platforms

• Windows
• macOS, iOS
• Linux
• FreeBSD / OpenBSD / NetBSD
• Android
• Raspberry Pi
• Emscripten / HTML5
• Dreamcast (via KallistiOS)
• Original Xbox (via NXDK)

miniaudio should compile clean on other platforms, but it will not include any support for playback or capture by default. To support that, you would need to implement a custom backend. You can do this without needing to modify the miniaudio source code. See the custom_backend example.

Backends

• WASAPI
• DirectSound
• WinMM
• Core Audio (Apple)
• PipeWire
• PulseAudio
• JACK
• ALSA
• sndio (OpenBSD)
• audio(4) (NetBSD and OpenBSD)
• OSS (FreeBSD)
• AAudio (Android 8.0+)
• OpenSL|ES (Android only)
• Web Audio (Emscripten)
• Dreamcast (via KallistiOS)
• XAudio (Original Xbox via NXDK)
• Null (Silence)
• Custom

Security

See the miniaudio security policy.

License

Your choice of either public domain or MIT No Attribution.